Finally after a decade or so, one of my garage door torsion springs broke. With all the supply chain issues, no identical springs can be found. My springs have a internal diameter of 1.75. It seems that springs with 2.0 internal diameter are "easier" to find. My question is, can I use springs of the same specs but with id of 2.00? TIA

https://www.amazon.com/Torsion...-75X32/dp/B07ZVV6DQP

Looks in stock at Amazon.... several different 1.75 options

Everything goes by the weight of your door. If you can get someone to help you lift the door to get a bathroom scale under it, you should be able to get a local company to get you some spring choices or maybe find some charts online.

I'd not do it myself.

If you screw up, you could be seriously injured or dead.

Garage door springs under tension have an awful lot of energy.

I won't work on mine, I have a garage door company come out and adjust and repair as needed, as well as inspect the rest of it for any worn parts, etc. The cost is reasonable. Call around.

Good luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'd not do it myself.

If you screw up, you could be seriously injured or dead.

Garage door springs under tension have an awful lot of energy.

I won't work on mine, I have a garage door company come out and adjust and repair as needed, as well as inspect the rest of it for any worn parts, etc. The cost is reasonable. Call around.

Good luck to you.

I can't agree enough with this. I have seen too many injuries with "pro-installers" getting hurt from replacing springs. It is worth the money to have someone else take the chance with an injury like that.

.

As you can see in the Amazon add the springs are measured ID (inside Diameter) of spring. Wire size diameter measured with a caliper and length.
Those springs come with cones and winding bars so if you are mechanical you should be able to handle it yourself.
It IS dangerous if you don't understand all you know about what you are doing.
I do my own, but my brother use to own his own overhead door co.

Go with the pros.

There are a lot of specs for springs. Physical dimensions such as coil diameter are some of them. If you don't know the rest ....please be safe and hire it done.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'd not do it myself.

If you screw up, you could be seriously injured or dead.

Garage door springs under tension have an awful lot of energy.

I can't agree enough with this. I have seen too many injuries with "pro-installers" getting hurt from replacing springs. It is worth the money to have someone else take the chance with an injury like that.

Ditto.

There's not much around here I won't touch. Garage door springs is one of those things.

It’s been a few years since I did it but I’m not sure I get all the safety concern. You should have a cable running through the spring that is bolted on both ends to prevent the spring flying if it snaps. IIRC you put no tension on the spring until it’s installed and safe. Maybe I just don’t recall but there wasn’t much safety concern I had when I did this.

I did mine about a two years ago. They are torsion springs, the type that is outside the bar across the top of the door, not tension that hang down both sides of the door.
Just use the spec.s from the old one, you don’t need to weigh the door, etc. if the bar is long enough to add some length, there are options so the spring will last longer. They are explained on the sites so I won’t go into all that here.
As to the safety issue, I has good mechanical skills and tools and had never done this before. Its not that hard and if you can handle a gun without shooting yourself by following some basic common sense rules, this is easier.
Just take your time as you get to the critical parts. Winding the spring is the potentially dangerous part and that’s simple too. There are lots of videos to show how to do it and the no no’s. Having the proper bars to wind and don’t fall of the step ladder. Again, not all that hard.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 220-9er,

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
It’s been a few years since I did it but I’m not sure I get all the safety concern. You should have a cable running through the spring that is bolted on both ends to prevent the spring flying if it snaps. IIRC you put no tension on the spring until it’s installed and safe. Maybe I just don’t recall but there wasn’t much safety concern I had when I did this.

Those are tension springs. OP has torsion springs.

Tension springs, each side of the door, have tension when closed, and much less tension when door is open. These should always be matched, and have safety cables run through them, as the springs will become missiles should the loop or spring fail.

The torsion spring(s) are the type on a bar with cable take up wheels on each side. They are wound about 7-9 turns to preload with the door installed and closed. (a few more turns for really tall doors)

These can be a single (for small, light weight doors) and in pairs for heavy doors (typically steel, and insulated or large width or much higher than typical doors).

In some cases, the two spring doors, may have mismatched springs, that works if they are correctly paired for the door weight.

Both tension and torsion springs should be replaced as a set. If one has failed, the other is at it's life end.

Paired torsion springs are better for having the door still function if one or both springs fail, since the "assist" is gone, but the door is free to move.

If a tension spring breaks, the unequal force still applied by the remaining spring will make the door, very difficult to open or close, and depending on how/when a spring breaks, the door or track can be damaged.

When a door spring breaks while you are opening or closing the door, the first thing you do is go clean yourself and put on new undies, then go look at the door.

It will make you jump a little bit.

Also a good idea to replace the center bearing and the cables on the torsion door(s).

I've done roll ups, tension and torsion doors.

I do not like the tension doors. I like roll up doors the best, but torsion doors are the most used in residential.

A man should know his limits. If you fully know and understand mechanical and the energy involved, you can do the work. If any of it is unfamiliar or you cannot "see" the "machine", be Aunt Bee, Call the man!

Others have posted good info as well.

You want a professional for this work. The tension put on the springs is serious and dangerous stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'd not do it myself.

If you screw up, you could be seriously injured or dead.

Garage door springs under tension have an awful lot of energy.

I won't work on mine, I have a garage door company come out and adjust and repair as needed, as well as inspect the rest of it for any worn parts, etc. The cost is reasonable. Call around.

Good luck to you.

Another agree. Fuck all that with those springs. Mine broke completely (sounded like a gun shot or something, very loud, and the garage door was shut at the time) and I had them replaced by the garage door company. A local outfit I use that is family owned and doesn’t rape. It was quite the effort just to get the door up where the guy could wedge it open while he replaced the springs, they look like coils to me. I saw the labor involved, I mean I watched. Uhhh, yeah I’m doing that shit, and wouldn’t trust anyone to do it unless they do it every day.

Now the door itself, just a few months ago has a crack in I don’t know what you call them, a crossmember? Tech said he could fix it for now by putting in a new crossmember he drilled in but said it’ll only hold for so long. New garage door, steel insulated, is 2k, so while he said I’d have 12-24 months I’m going to replace it in March/April. Have to just love home ownership. It’s always something 4 figures, seems like every single year. Very frustrating. His quote was great. “Garage doors don’t last forever. 15 years, 20 if you are lucky”.

Call around…ditto on having pro do this.